The official three-minute collection of highlights of the fifth annual “Metal Masters” clinic, which was held on January 22 at the Anaheim, California House Of Blues, can be seen below.

The “Metal Masters 5” lineup was loaded with a star-studded cast of metal musicians. As in years past, the show started with a brief clinic offering some tips and tricks, and ended with an all-star jam session of metal cover songs.

“‘Metal Masters’ started out as two bassists teaching a clinic and has gone on to become a spectacle that includes some of the greatest musicians that defined a genre,” says Samson‘s director of marketing and “Metal Masters” founder, Mark Menghi. “What better way to learn, than seeing these amazing performers up close and personal teaching their own personal techniques of the trade. ‘Metal Masters’ has always been about doing something special for the fans and that will never go away.”

King previously stated about his motivation for taking part in “Metal Masters”: “The reason I still do it to this day is to get Phil involved, because I think the world misses him. He’s good at what he does and I’m one of the few guys he looks up to to the point where he’d come out and do it. And I’m not blowing sunshine up my ass; it’s just a fact. And everybody wants to see Phil. Everybody loves Phil. When I come out, it’s a huge applause. When Phil comes out, it’s like somebody came back from the dead; they’re not expecting it. And it’s cool.”

In a recent interview with Full Metal Jackie, Anselmo stated about performing PANTERA songs at “Metal Masters”: “I’m up there with guys that I’ve known since the ’80s who have a good five, six years on me of playing music and being successful, people that I looked up to and still look up to… The thing is just being up there with those guys is overwhelming enough, but then playing the PANTERA songs, don’t get me wrong, it feels great, it feels fantastic, and it does bring me back to a very powerful place, a very unique place in history. I guess, growing up and cuttin’ my chops and growing up with the guys in PANTERA, we always played with a chip on our shoulder and you get that rush of memory when you’re up there doing it, but it’s a lot of emotions balled up into one, but they’re all pretty damn good. For me, the most fun thing about it of all is just seeing the fan reaction. I’ve always said that PANTERA fans were the best in the world, and I truly meant that and I still mean it. That’s why ‘Metal Masters’ keeps the pulse of the whole thing going.”

Speaking to Artisan News prior to the “Metal Masters 4” event in September 2012, Sheehan and the other musicians spoke about what it was like for Billy to come in and play heavier stuff than he is used to.

“I’ve been prepped,” said Sheehan. “And it’s great. I actually love it. It’s like being on another planet. It’s like an adventure into another land, and it’s really cool. It’s challenging to play this stuff.”

Added Bello: “It’s great seeing [Billy] come into this world, and step up as he did. I mean, Billy Sheehan is playing [chuckles] he’s playing SLAYER and EXODUS tonight — without a pick. Just think about those lines right there. He totally kicks ass in it, too. The guy stepped up to it, and you can’t ask for more than that. So for these kids, seeing a treat like that, man, it’s a good time.”

Said Holt: “[If you had told me that] this guy here [pointing at Billy], who is one of the greatest musicians in rock history, would be standing there watching my fingers as I’m playing [EXODUS‘s song] ‘Piranha’, I would havee called you a stone-faced liar and said, ‘Get outta here!'”

Jorge Fretes of Spain’s GoetiaMedia.com recently conducted an interview with guitar virtuoso Gus G., well known in rock and metal circles for his work as Ozzy Osbourne‘s guitarist and as leader of his own band FIREWIND. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

Gus G.‘s debut solo album, “I Am The Fire”, will be released on March 18 in North America via Century Media Records.

The video for the album’s opening track, “My Will Be Done” (featuring Mats Levén), was produced by Patric Ullaeus of Revolver Film Company, who has previously worked with DIMMU BORGIR, LACUNA COIL, IN FLAMES, SONIC SYNDICATE and KAMELOT, among others.

“I Am The Fire” was mixed by Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STONE SOUR, STEEL PANTHER) and was recorded between Los Angeles and Gus‘ home country of Greece through the latter half of 2013. A few of the album’s tracks include “Eyes Wide Open”, “Redemption”, “End Of The Line” and “Blame It On Me”. The album showcases a well-balanced mix of active rock, classic hard rock, traditional metal and guitar-driven instrumentals, taking listeners on a diverse journey and opening doors to Gus G.‘s soulful playing.

Gus G. has had an amazing rise within the worldwide rock and metal scenes and has amassed an impressive body of work, both in studio and touring. He emerged as an up-and-coming talent with the groups DREAM EVIL (Sweden), MYSTIC PROPHECY (Germany) and NIGHTRAGE (Greece), but it is his work with his own band FIREWIND (who have released seven studio albums and two live releases) and as a member of Ozzy Osbourne‘s band that have helped him emerge as one of the world’s top metal and rock guitarists. His work on Ozzy‘s “Scream” album led to a Grammy nomination in 2010, and his list of accolades includes Guitar Player magazine’s “Best Metal Guitarist,” the “Dimebag Darrell Shredder” award at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, and Metal Hammer Greece “Best Guitarist” on four separate occasions.

On September 16, Louder! Magazine conducted an interview with drummer Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB) after THE WINERY DOGS‘ headlining concert La Maroquinerie in Paris, France. You can now watch the chat below.

THE WINERY DOGS‘ self-titled debut album sold around 10,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 27 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released in North America on July 23 via Loud & Proud Records and in Japan on May 15 via Victor Entertainment, the CD was mixed by Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, ADRENALINE MOB, STONE SOUR and STEEL PANTHER.

“Bands like [LED] ZEPPELIN and THE WHO, THE [ROLLING] STONES, and THE BEATLES, CREAM, and [Jimi] Hendrix. I mean, I grew up with that stuff,” Portnoy told Voice Of America. “And, although I’ve been able to pay tribute to it throughout my career with tribute bands and things like that, I’ve never been in an all-original band that was kind of playing classic rock power trio stuff. That’s how I describe this band: just a straight-up rock band.”

Regarding the songwriting process for THE WINERY DOGS‘ album, Portnoy said: “In all cases, the music was the very first element and from there, Richie would start melodies on top of it. Sometimes the final lyrics were there, coming up on the spot, and other times he would take the melodies and write lyrics later. There were a couple of examples of Richie having something and bringing it in. In those cases, like ‘Damaged’ and ‘Regret’, we just left them. Because in those two particular cases, the songs were great as they were.”

Portnoy was full of praise for his THE WINERY DOGS bandmates, telling Voice Of America: “Billy Sheehan is my favorite bass player on earth and he has been for almost 30 years now. So to work with him and make music with him for me is an honor. And Richie is someone I have the utmost respect for as an artist. I mean, he is just so underappreciated, not only as a guitarist, but as a singer and a writer as well. I think for me, the most exciting aspect of this band is for people to discover Richie that aren’t aware of what a musical genius he is.”

On September 19, former PANTERA and current KILL DEVIL HILL bassist Rex Brown took part in a clinic at Sam Ash in New York City. A two-minute Artisan News report on the event, which includes a short interview with Brown, can be seen bleow.

Hartke recently announced the addition of Brown to its already impressive roster of artists. Rex is best known as one half of the driving rhythm section of legendary metal band PANTERA and is currently further developing his signature sound with his new band KILL DEVIL HILL. KILL DEVIL HILL will release its sophomore album this fall on Century Media Records.

“I’ve been playing bass for a long time and I recently had the great fortune of pluggin’ in to a Hartke rig,” says Rex. “My new rig gives me the flexibility to control my tone and blast my sound in any size venue. This Hartke rig slams like a concrete sledge. I’m looking forward to being part of the Hartke family for ANOTHER very long time.”

This past March, Rex released his memoir entitled “Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera”. He also made an appearance on VH1 Classic‘s flagship program “That Metal Show” in support of the book. He will be hitting the road with KILL DEVIL HILL this fall in support of their new release.

Rex was recently announced as part of the festivities at Bass Player LIVE! 2013. He will participate in the Bass Player LIVE! Concert and Awards Show, presented by Hartke, which will be a historic tribute to BLACK SABBATH‘s Geezer Butler. The show will take place at the Fonda Theater on November 9. And on Sunday, November 10, Rex will be a part of a bass panel, again hosted by Hartke, alongside Billy Sheehan, David Ellefson and Frank Bello.

On September 19, Metal Mark of SkullsNBones.com conducted an interview with former PANTERA and current KILL DEVIL HILL bassist Rex Brown at Sam Ash in New York City. You can now watch the chat below. Also available is footage of Rex‘s Sam Ash clinic.

Hartke recently announced the addition of Brown to its already impressive roster of artists. Rex is best known as one half of the driving rhythm section of legendary metal band PANTERA and is currently further developing his signature sound with his new band KILL DEVIL HILL. KILL DEVIL HILL will release its sophomore album this fall on Century Media Records.

“I’ve been playing bass for a long time and I recently had the great fortune of pluggin’ in to a Hartke rig,” says Rex. “My new rig gives me the flexibility to control my tone and blast my sound in any size venue. This Hartke rig slams like a concrete sledge. I’m looking forward to being part of the Hartke family for ANOTHER very long time.”

This past March, Rex released his memoir entitled “Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera”. He also made an appearance on VH1 Classic‘s flagship program “That Metal Show” in support of the book. He will be hitting the road with KILL DEVIL HILL this fall in support of their new release.

Rex was recently announced as part of the festivities at Bass Player LIVE! 2013. He will participate in the Bass Player LIVE! Concert and Awards Show, presented by Hartke, which will be a historic tribute to BLACK SABBATH‘s Geezer Butler. The show will take place at the Fonda Theater on November 9. And on Sunday, November 10, Rex will be a part of a bass panel, again hosted by Hartke, alongside Billy Sheehan, David Ellefson and Frank Bello.

The band’s self-titled debut album sold around 10,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 27 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released in North America on July 23 via Loud & Proud Records and in Japan on May 15 via Victor Entertainment, the CD was mixed by Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, ADRENALINE MOB, STONE SOUR and STEEL PANTHER.

“Bands like [LED] ZEPPELIN and THE WHO, THE [ROLLING] STONES, and THE BEATLES, CREAM, and [Jimi] Hendrix. I mean, I grew up with that stuff,” Portnoy told Voice Of America. “And, although I’ve been able to pay tribute to it throughout my career with tribute bands and things like that, I’ve never been in an all-original band that was kind of playing classic rock power trio stuff. That’s how I describe this band: just a straight-up rock band.”

Regarding the songwriting process for THE WINERY DOGS‘ album, Portnoy said: “In all cases, the music was the very first element and from there, Richie would start melodies on top of it. Sometimes the final lyrics were there, coming up on the spot, and other times he would take the melodies and write lyrics later. There were a couple of examples of Richie having something and bringing it in. In those cases, like ‘Damaged’ and ‘Regret’, we just left them. Because in those two particular cases, the songs were great as they were.”

Portnoy was full of praise for his THE WINERY DOGS bandmates, telling Voice Of America: “Billy Sheehan is my favorite bass player on earth and he has been for almost 30 years now. So to work with him and make music with him for me is an honor. And Richie is someone I have the utmost respect for as an artist. I mean, he is just so underappreciated, not only as a guitarist, but as a singer and a writer as well. I think for me, the most exciting aspect of this band is for people to discover Richie that aren’t aware of what a musical genius he is.”

BackstageAxxess.com: The three of you as musicians don’t seem to have boundaries when it comes to your playing styles; you really seem to work well together. The first song, “Elevate”, does seem to have a MR. BIG-ish sound and you have worked with Billy Sheehan before. How did the dynamics of THE WINERY DOGS differ from, say, MR. BIG or the other bands that you have been in?

Richie: The dynamics between me and Billy have always been kind of consistent. We did the MR. BIG thing together and there was a period of time when Billy and Pat Torpey and I were working together with thoughts of maybe doing a project but that never happened. They ended up playing on one of my solo records. Billy and I connected again and I took him with me to Japan when I had the opportunity to open for THE ROLLING STONES. Billy and I have a lot of history, and not just playing together, we like each other and we’re friends. It’s a good vibe there, so to work with him is easy. He knows how to communicate with me and I know how to communicate with him and we get it done. With THE WINERY DOGS record, it was an interesting process in writing, it was kind of two separate formulas really at play. The first thing was half the record was written in such a way that we would literally get in a room and just jam ideas, whether it started from a bass riff that Billy had or a guitar riff that I had or a drum beat. We would just kind of mess around and end up with these little skeletons of songs where you have a verse and a chorus, or a chord, maybe a bridge or solo section and that sort of thing. We recorded all of those in a very quick way. Nothing that was done proper; just a couple microphones and get it going. Those guys went on the road for a while with another project they had so I kind of laid back and threw around some melody ideas and lyric ideas and I pretty much finished those songs. Some of those songs were “Time Machine” and one called “Criminal”, but there’s a bunch of them that we did that way. I would record some vocals and send them off and they would make comments on them. We like that or we don’t like that, can we keep this, can we keep that. That was kind of how a lot of the record was written. The rest of the songs were songs that really I brought in towards the end. Songs like “Regret” or “Damaged” or “I’m No Angel”, even “Elevate”. Those were songs that I had originally had demoed in my studio. I remember there was a couple of days that I was kind of pulling up songs and said hey, what do you think about this? Do you want to make it into a WINERY DOGS song? So the ones that ended up on the record were the ones that I had mentioned and then together we sat down and fine tuned those and made them into a little more fitting in with what THE WINERY DOGS are about. That was really the process. We ended up with 14 songs, but unfortunately, we had to save one for a bonus track in Japan and the other for a bonus track in the U.S. There are two different versions of the record floating around. So people who want to hear everything might have to do a little bit of research to get all of the material but when you come see us live you will hear all 14 songs.

BackstageAxxess.com: What was the timeline in creating this record? I know you had done an acoustic tour before this came out.

Richie: That tour was already booked and in the works prior to the completion of THE WINERY DOGS record so that was already something I knew I was going to be doing. As far as the actual timeline, we had gotten together and Mike Portnoy was the one who really has this engraved in his head, but to my memory, we got together the initial time and we came up with maybe 4 or 5 ideas and I remember going back and finishing the songs, putting vocals on and sending off what I did to the guys, I think I finished 2 of them. We got together again and came up with another batch and at some point we demoed these songs and I went in and sang on these demos and came up with whatever melodies I wanted to sing and lyric ideas. There was one of them that Mike did lyrics on; he demoed it. So then we had maybe 7 or 8 of these songs that existed and we got together at that point to try to start cutting the record. In that process is where I played some of the songs I had laying around and presented them and they became WINERY DOGS songs as well, which were songs I mentioned earlier. In the end, we had 14 songs to cut drums to so we did all that in about two weeks and they took off. I went in and did guitars and vocals. They came back and finetuned everything. They did background vocals, percussion, a couple little lyric tweaks here and there. We sent it off to Jay Ruston to get mixed and we ended up with our record.

BackstageAxxess.com: You had mentioned you had some of the songs. Did you have the music to the songs or the lyrics too? Did you write them together?

Richie: “Regret” and “Damaged”. I have a demo of “Damaged” and it really sounds like a disco song. I have to dig it up one day and put it on a B side. “I’m No Angel” was done, although it was called “Misfortune” and we changed the title. “Elevate” was done in the sense that the chorus existed with the lyrics and the melody and so did the verse, but in two different songs. Originally, that riff and that verse I had in another song with a whole other chorus. It was Mike who decided to put that verse with the chorus that you hear now. When we did that idea, when we put them together, there was a key issue; the verse and the chorus, they sounded weird at first. I remember Billy and I spent a lot of time on that song reconfiguring the bass line and the guitar to make it a smooth transit and that’s how that song came to be. “We Are One” was a song that I had the music to all written out and I had the melodies, but the chord progression was different so Billy and I ended up rewriting that as well. There was a lot of skeletons we dealt with and threw some meat on them. There were some that were finished. The ones that were the most finished would be “Damaged”, “Regret” and “I’m No Angel” as far as the ones I brought in. The other ones were in different stages of work.

CANNIBAL CORPSE will wrap up its 25th-anniversary celebrations for 2013 with a pair of shows in Florida, which has served as the band’s base of operations since relocating to Tampa from Buffalo, New York in 1994. The concerts are scheduled for November 29 in Ft. Lauderdale at the Culture Room and November 30 in Tampa at the Brass Mug. Tickets will go on sale this Friday at Ticketmaster.com for the Culture Room.

Comments CANNIBAL CORPSE founding member and bassist Alex Webster: “We are very excited to be doing these shows in Florida this November.

“We formed the band in the first week of December back in 1988 so these shows will be happening almost exactly 25 years after our formation. It will be great to celebrate our band’s anniversary in the state that helped put death metal on the map. Also, we are very happy to be able play Ft. Lauderdale to make up for the show we missed there in June. And I think fans in both cities will be happy when they see the ticket price for these shows!”

Metal Blade Records has been releasing one picture disc a month from the band’s expansive catalog of releases (“Eaten Back To Life”, “Butchered At Birth”, “Tomb Of The Mutilated”, “The Bleeding”, “Vile”, “Gallery Of Suicide”, “Bloodthirst”, “Gore Obsessed”, “The Wretched Spawn”, “Kill”, “Evisceration Plague”, “Torture”). A total of 12 pictures discs will be released, covering all of the band’s full-length studio albums, some of which have never been released on picture disc.

Earlier this year, it was announced that CANNIBAL CORPSE was selected for induction in the Buffalo Music Hall Of Fame as a member of the Class of 2013. CANNIBAL CORPSE is the latest addition to the Hall Of Fame, which also includes Buffalo natives the GOO GOO DOLLS, Billy Sheehan, 10,000 MANIACS, and many more. The Class Of 2013 will be inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall Of Fame at its 30th-anniversary induction gala, which will be held October 3 at the Tralf Music Hall in Buffalo.

On September 15, RockNLive.org conducted an interview with drummer Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB) before THE WINERY DOGS‘ headlining concert La Maroquinerie in Paris, France. You can now watch the chat below.

THE WINERY DOGS‘ self-titled debut album sold around 10,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 27 on The Billboard 200 chart. Released in North America on July 23 via Loud & Proud Records and in Japan on May 15 via Victor Entertainment, the CD was mixed by Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, ADRENALINE MOB, STONE SOUR and STEEL PANTHER.

“Bands like [LED] ZEPPELIN and THE WHO, THE [ROLLING] STONES, and THE BEATLES, CREAM, and [Jimi] Hendrix. I mean, I grew up with that stuff,” Portnoy told Voice Of America. “And, although I’ve been able to pay tribute to it throughout my career with tribute bands and things like that, I’ve never been in an all-original band that was kind of playing classic rock power trio stuff. That’s how I describe this band: just a straight-up rock band.”

Regarding the songwriting process for THE WINERY DOGS‘ album, Portnoy said: “In all cases, the music was the very first element and from there, Richie would start melodies on top of it. Sometimes the final lyrics were there, coming up on the spot, and other times he would take the melodies and write lyrics later. There were a couple of examples of Richie having something and bringing it in. In those cases, like ‘Damaged’ and ‘Regret’, we just left them. Because in those two particular cases, the songs were great as they were.”

Portnoy was full of praise for his THE WINERY DOGS bandmates, telling Voice Of America: “Billy Sheehan is my favorite bass player on earth and he has been for almost 30 years now. So to work with him and make music with him for me is an honor. And Richie is someone I have the utmost respect for as an artist. I mean, he is just so underappreciated, not only as a guitarist, but as a singer and a writer as well. I think for me, the most exciting aspect of this band is for people to discover Richie that aren’t aware of what a musical genius he is.”